Weed puller and ballast renovator



March 16 1926.

A. M. CLOUGH ET AL WEED FULLER AND BALLAST RENOVATOR Filed June '7, 1923 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 I 31102144700 l JMCwzMa/n afliouwaa A. M. CLQUGH ET A1, WEED. FULLER AND BALLAST RENOVAI'OR Filed June-'7, 1923 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 March 16,1926. 1,577,247

A. M.CLOUGH ET AL I WEED FULLER AND BALLAST RENOVATOR Filed June '7. 1923 5 Shefs-Sheet 5 n n uan nu II March 16 1926. 1,577,247

- A. M. CLOUGH ET AL WEED FULLER AND BALLAST RENOVATOR Filed June '7, 1923 5'Shee'tsSheet 5 i w I K 1 36 7 'I i 26 27- 1} 26 I v 39 i3. 9

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Patented Mar. 16, 1926.

' UNI'TEDFSTATES ATENT" OFFICE.

ANDRE M. Cnoneznor VBATAVIAQNEW. YORK, AND JOHN W. CARNOHAN, or

. CLEVELAND, oHIo.

WEED PULLER'A D BALLAST RENOVATOR.

Application filed June 7, l923'. SeriaINO. 644,029.

To all whom it may concern.

Be it known that we, ANDREW M. CLoUeH and JOH W. Carnelian, citizens of the United States, residing, respectively, at Baorating the track ballast.

tavia, in the county of Genesee and State of New York, and at Cleveland, in the county of Cuyahoga and State of Ohio,

have invented certain new and useful Improvements in \Veed Pullers and Ballast Benovators, of which the following is a specification- Our invention relates to mechanism for removing weeds and other wild growth from the space along railroad tracks and for ren- The invention also provides means for cutting sod adjacent the track, and has for its object the provi sion of an apparatus which may be readily mounted upon a car and drawn over the track without interfering with the passage of trains upon adjacent tracks or deranging any switches or switch-throwing mechanism. The invention has for its object the provision of ground or ballast-engaging devices which may be operated at the sides of a car and easily manipulated to be supported in an inoperative position against the sides of the car above the track or ballast and may be adjusted from time to time as circum stances demand by operators upon the car. The invention also has for its object the provision of simple and easily controlled devices operated by compressed air from the locomotive orthe train line whereby manual labor will be minimized, and an other object of the invention .is to provide F'gure l is a plan viewof sov much of a railroad car as is necessary to show the mounting of our improved apparatus there'-' on, the apparatus of our invention being shown in operative position in full lines and dotted lines being employed to'show other positions of the ground-engaging eleme" jtions;

Fig. 2v is a sideelevation of the 'struc rd Fig. 3 is an enlarged transverse section on the line 3-3 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 4; is an enlarged detail section on the line l l of Fig. 3; i I

Fig. 5 is an enlarged detail section on the line of Fig.2;

Fig. 6 is a perspective view oftheslidable crosshead shown in Fig. 5, the parts of the said crosshead being disassembled but approximatelyin' their proper relative posi- 1 Fig. 7 is an enlarged horizontal section of a four-way valve employed in the apparatus, the plane of the section being indicated by the line 77 of Fig. 2;

. F 8 is an enlarged detail perspectiveof means for retaining the ground-engaging elements in an inoperative position; Fig. 9 s an enlarged vertical section on the line 99 of Fig. 3;

Fig. 10 is an enlarged front elevation of one-half of a rake head with the ballastengaging teeth mounted thereon;

Fig. ll-isa section on the line 1111 of Fig. 3; V I

Fig. 12 is a detail elevation 0f a sod cutter, and v i i Fig. 13 is a bottom plan view of the sod cutter. p I

The railroad .car, indicated at 1, may he a platform car built especially for carrying our improved Weed-pulling and ballast renovating apparatus or it may be an old car modified in such particulars as maybe necessary to permit. the apparatus to be mounted thereon. The details of the car'construction do not form essential features of our invention and the car has, therefore, been illustratedin a more or less conventional manner. In order that the mechanism of our invention may be out of the way. when it is not in use, we reduce thewidth of the car at pointsbetween the ends thereof, so that recesses 2 are formed-inv the sides of-the car and the ground-engaging elements are supported by. devices mounted upon the car at the longitudinallwalls ofthe said recesses,

as clearlyshown in.Fig. 1. y g

f In carrying out our invention, We secure rigidly to. the sides of the car uprights 3 which constitute guidesifor the rake head supportsandare provided upontheir inner opposed faces-i-with tracks. gwhich are Pre erably.este med ssenneed es between the uirin'hts 3.

ft-lie Jsaiil threedeclastad' fa-ae shown most clearly in Fig. 4:. the uprights it being pret'erably :ngle bars disposed with one web against the edge of the ear platterm or body and another web projecting laterall therefrom, as also shown clearly in Fig. 4. Fitted slidably between the 'raehs 4- is a bar 5 which may eonveniently be oi wood having nietal plates (3 secured to its inner and outer faces with their edges projeeting beyond the edtrcsot'the bar or block 5 so that grooves or ways are prodnctal which lit around the tracks at and thereby hold the slide to a rectilinear path The uprights may be reinforced by any convenient or n'eilerred nieans. obliquely dispoeed braees i" and gusset plates 8 being illustrated whereby rigid taiaincetions between the uprights and the car bod; are secured. Seenred to the inner side oi one upright 3 at each side of the car is a. locking plate 9 having openings 1U termed therethrough and rigidly secured to and projecting inwardly from the inner side of each slide is a bracket ll having s milar openings 12 therethrough, the open in the loelging plate and in the ln'ackets t neadapted to register and receive locking pins or bolts of any convenient type whereby the slide will be positively held at any desired elevation. Eat-h Market 11 carries a erosshead 1? at its inner end in which is secured the lower end of a piston rod 14 extcndiin; from a vertically disposed cylinder 15 and connected with a. pitteu within said cylinder whit-h may be oi any eonvenient form and whieh, in itself. forms no part of our present invention. l luid pressure is admitted to the opposite ends of the cylinder 15 so as to shift the piston therein vertiially and thereby raise or lower the crosshead through its connection with the piston rod 14;. The admission and discharge of the lluid pressure is controlled by means which will be hereinalter more particularly mentioned. To the. outer side of each slide. we secure a plurality ol outwardly projeeting brackets upon which a rake head is pivotall supported. lhcse brackets. indicated at 16. may be oi? any suitable 't'orni and are disposed in two series. as will be readily understood upon rel eremo to Fig. 3. the outer ends ol all the braekets having vertical openii'igs therethrough to receive pivot pins 117 and 1S 1! repetitively. rakeearrvin; arru l9. prete ablv of triangular form. has its inner side n'orided with eves engaged around the pivot pin or bolt 1i7and supported on said bolt bv the adiarent brackets '16, while the outer end of the said arm is pro rided .with an (r e 2i. receiving: a threaded stud it at the inpperxend .ot the take heed to that the rake head may turn pivita'lly in the said eve, and a nut- 23 is mounted upon "*1 eediheme their 7 outer extremities with against the upper side ot the eye 21 whereby to prevent the rake head dropping 'l'ron'i said eye. The rake head is indicated as an entirety by the rel erenee numeral Ql and the threaded staid E22 rises from a triangular coupling plate which is secured rigit'll to the body of the rake head at the upper talge'thereo't. The body oil? the rake head comprises front and back plates JG and 2? having spacing bars or lJlOCkFS 28 disposed between their o n osed iaees at intervals in the vertical extent ot' the saute and having the coupling; plate titted between their upper ed a'es, as will be readily understijiod upon rei'erei'iee to Figs. 9 and it). At the uppe* and lower edges of the front plate and at the center oi the same. we secure angle strips 29 which are provided in their iliorwardly projerting webs with notches lit) to receive the shanks ill. oi teeh Zlil. The ril'ltllllC-TQCQlVillg strips are rigidly secured to the rake head by belts or rivet-n as shown at 33. and the shanks Ell are pretcrablv oil. angular cross section so that they will tit elosely within the notches 30 and be therelrv prevented from rotating Clip ioite i'l-t are titted around the shanks ill an'l hroue h the rake head, as ehovvn elearly in Fig. 11 and nuts are mounted upon the "ear ends of theee bolts and turned home agniinst the back plate 27 whereby to lirnily clamp the teeth to the rake head. The teeth are thus securely clamped to the rake head and rich tooth only he :aljusted vertically indcp endc 'itly of all the other teeth so that. while the teeth may be set to run at any desired depth below the rake head, they 111a be also set so as to all have their working lower ends disposed in the same horizontal plane. as shown at the left of Fig. ll. or 111a be disposed in stepped relation, as shown Z-lt the right of Fig. i l. The lower ends o1 points oi the teeth are curved so that. the in'ojeetslightly (forward and will. therct'oi e. readily pass through the ballast and engage under the roots of any weeds which may be growing along: the track and easily remove said growth from the ground. iln order that the ballast will not zurelnnulate between the teeth and choke the operation thereol'. the alternate teeth are otlsct. r arwarillr. its Shown at 36. and the) are eonseiplcntlv die posed to run in rear ol" the remaining teeth. as; shown clearly in Fig. :2. The :irran uient oi the teeth doesv not lt' n their \vrel pulling; ellieienev but pri'n'itlcs llltfl't?il"".tl clearance between adjacent teeth an that the stones constituting the track ballast will be readily turned aside to permit the pan sage ot the teeth. Ficeured between "the tron! andbark platesQTranil ill. at the Cl f r thereof and moieetiw beyond aaid ends. are hinge bloeles 37 which are provided at torks 33. and the fgirlis at the inner end ofjtlt? rake head ltltl 'vated in the opposite direction.

are adapted to engage around the pivot pin or bolt 18 whereby the rake head will be supported by the said pivot and the brackets 16 and may swing pivotally upon the bolt. The forks at the outer end of the rake head are adapted to receive pivotally a'pin or bolt 3, and between two of the said forks 38 an eye 40 isengaged around the said pivot, transverse bolts 41 being inserted through the sides of the several forks b8 to retain the respective pivot bolts therein. The eye 40 is part of a coupling which is completed by an arm 42 projecting from the eye and carrying a, pivot pin 43 at its -r'ear end. The said pivot pin43 is engaged in mating eyes on the end of a yoke at the forward end of a strut 45 which strut extends to the side of the car and is provided at its rearend with a yoke 46 similar to the yoke 4a and coupled. in like manner to a coupling head 4:? which is pivotally mounted in the front end of a slide or crosshead 48. The pivot 43 is disposed at a right angle to the pivot 39 and the pivots connecting the coupling 47 to theyoke a6 and to the slide 48, respectively, are-likewise disposed at a right angle'to each other so that universal joints are provided at both ends of the strut 45. When the apparatus has reached the limit of travel in one direction orthe limit of the scene of operation and it is desired to return to the starting point, the pivot pins or bolts 18 and 39 are withdrawn and the rake heads may then be swung pivotally be reversed and their points caused to extend in the opposite direction from that in which they were previously set. The pivot pins are then reengaged in the severa brackets and the car may be driven baekwardly so that the ballast may be renodesired to return to the starting point without having the teeth in operative position, or when the apparatus is being carried to a. point where operations are to begin, the rake heads are adjusted vertically so that the points of the teeth will be above-the ballast o1'-tl1eground level and the rake heads or wings are then swung about the pivots 1T anddtl so ti attire-y will lie close to and parallel with the side of the car, as indicated by the dotted lines in the lower portion of Fig. 1. To secure the rake in this position, we provide openings 49 through the rake head in the lower portions thereof and also provide an eye-bolt 50 which is hung upon the side of the car andis adapted to be extended through one of thesaid openings 49 and be retained therein 'by a nut 51 turned home on the bolt against "the outer side ofthe rake head, as will be readily understood. The eye-bolt 50 may be mounted upon the side of the car in any preferred or convenient manner, and

accurate assembling of If it be p ing from a piston which is disposed within a cylinder 56 securely mounted upon the car atthe side of the same, it being understood of course, that a cylinder 56 with the coop crating piston rod and the rail 54 is provided at each side of the car, as shown in Fig. 1. The slide 48 comprises a body 5'? fitting between the upper and lower rails 54 and provided at its inner side with longitudinal flanges 58 adapted to engage the inner sides of the said rails, as shown in F 1g. 5, whereby the slide w1ll be prevented from lateral outward movement. Rigidly secured to the outer side'of the body is a yoke plate 59 provided on its inner side with lug 60 adapted to fit within a recess 61 in the outer face of the body 57 so that the x p the parts will be fa-- cilitated, and this yoke plate is wider than the body 57 so that the inner surface of the yoke plate at the top and bottom thereof will engage against theouter faces of the rails 5 as shown in Fig. 5, whereby the slide will beheld to a rectilinear path by the rails At its rear end, the yoke plate 59 is provided with an outwardly projecting lug 62 in which the front end of the piston rod 55 is secured, and at its front end the yoke plate is provided with the hinge eyes 63 between which the coiugling yoke l? is received and pivotally held by a pin 64.

Mounted upon the carbetween the cvlinders 56 is the main supply tanker druiii 65, and this supply tank or reservoir is con nected by a pipe 66 with the train line, in-

dicated at 67, whereby the supplyof compressed air necessary for the operation of the several parts will be maintained from the pump on the locomotive. Preferably, the pipe 66 is disposed at the rear end of the reservoir and it is eruiipped with a cutoff valve 67 of any desired type. A pipe 68 extends from the front end of the reservoir 65 and branches extend from this pipe to four-way valves whereby the side cylinders 56'and the vertical cylinders 15 are supplied and theoperation of the pistons in the several cylinders are controlled; The pipe 63 is equipped with a pressure gage 69 so that the attendants may readily know when the supply is becoming exhausted and needs replenishment through the opening of the valve 67. The-branch pipes 70 leading from the pipe 68 each communicates with the inlet p rt-snfap r of fourwvay a1 es-,- dicatel at T1. l'l i' l'etf'erring to Fig. 1, it will he noted that there are two tour-Way valves at each Ride of the ear, one of said valves eontrolling the longitudinal cylinder 56 at the name aide of the ear and the other at. said alven eontrolliiu the vertical CIr'liDtlQl to. The auppl pipe leading from the main reservoir (aanniunieates directly with the inlet port TE! oil the :tour-way valve and the exhauat port 72% at? the valve d'aposed diainetritnllv opposite he inlet port. Ports it and 7a extend :t'rom diinnetrieally opposite points of the valve midn'a} between the ports and 725, aa shown el 1l'l' in Fig. T, and lllii'it po ts H and T5 romn'iunieate reapeetiivel g -with the upper and lower ends (it the reapertive cylinder The hotly olf the valve is provided with paasag s 76 and Ti', and a handle Tel iii leo in'ovided. hen this handle in tlitlltl 'td at an angle of fortytive degrees midiay hetivea'i the exhaust:- port and the port Tl. as indicated by dotted lines in lti e'. T- the ende ot the paaaaa'es "as and Ti" will all he elosed h v the walla ot' the valve inning: and the valve may he set in this position when the r: he 1H in its lowest position and in working. When the 2': he i; to he en iipurted in a hinhir position, the valve so that the port T5 will he eonnet-ted vvi the inlet port; i2 and the eomireaaed a vvill then l'loiv into the lower end at the e vlinder l5 and raise the piston thereiiu the paasa 'e To eetahliehing CO11111lttniration between the port 74- antl the exhauat port 72-3 at the same time that the ports i2 and T5 are aimed to eommuni :ate no that the air tapped ahove the piston may readily earape. To net-tire the rake in the raised positiom the e vehelt Stl n eni ploved oa hohlinp; pin is inserted through the loeliine plate 9 and the hraeltet 11 as h a inla i ore dev erihial. \Vhen the rake it; in its lowest position, its weight, will lireuentilv he auttirient to hold it to its work hut may aometimes; happen that the halla in unuauallv heavy or the weeds to he uprooted. are tough and have attainerl'a think growth. In aurh event the *alve may he set to eonneet the inlet port with the part it so that air will he admitted to the upper end ot the ryliuder l5 and additional prose aure thus inverted to hold the ralte to its work. The haeluvard thrust? upon the who ia ol. eouvee, sustained h v th strut l? and the pivots 1F and 39.

The pirton in the rvlinder fit ie mntrolled o manipulation ot the proper tour-Way valve in the same manner an that dot: rihed tor rontrollimr the piston in the vertical r rliudrr 1'5 but the t avel ot the i jlitli tlll in the erlindei: so ia, ot course, horf ontal instead of vertical. 1?. the piston within the cylinder {it he driven reari'irdl v, the slide l8 will he drawnrearwartlly upon the rails and hi m emen w l be ran m t ed iii ir through the strut to so as to raving the ralte head or wine; rearn'ardlv ahout the inner pivots it)? and .t' The ralce heads may tliHFi he drawn elo=-e to the elder-a: ot? the ear no that: they will he inoperative, and, in order to prevent any posaihle damage by reason at the -alte teeth projeetine ontwardl u the rake head should he revere-ed het'ore being swung to the side of the war so that the points oi. the nice teeth will pro let. under the eaia as ahoxvn hy the dotted nea in Fig". t. it will. of eourae, he underood that the vertiral adjuatment or move mea ol' the ralte heads permits the operator to elevate them no that: they may reznlil rlear switrh stands or :aimilar ohstrurtioni-i at the side; of the traeli'. without: stopping the ear or requiring other manipulation oi the rakes or oi the Fnvitrhes.

idieated h v dotted linen in Fig. 22. a rah will pret'ea-ahlv he huilt upon the ear no a: to in'oteeti the oper: torn iron] the W ather. and within the rah a Httli' till Will he provided hetvve n ear-h pair ol' tour-Way valves so that tl e operator may aeaume a eomtortahle position hetn'een the 'alves and manipulate the name easily and readilv as oraaiou may ariae. 'two operators will he employeih arh operator Facing outvardly and controlling the apparatus at his own side at the ear. Either alto may he adjusted indepentlentlv of the other and they may he iven vertieal movement and a pivotal movement simultaneously or inde: litlltlt'lliil). The nniveraal connections at the ends olf the struts; will permit them to aeronnnodate themaelvoi to the vertical position ot the rake heath: or wings and at the same time they will very ett'eetuall prevent: the ah-ea swinging rtau'wardtv under the strain impoaed upon them in uprootine; \verda or in renovating the hallaat.

hen Ml desired, a hallast guard t tle may he provided to prevent hallaet heinn' thrown onto the tr: rlr rails hv the rake. 'lhia hallaat guard ronaiats ot a plate disposed on edge with its lower edp'e upturned at its Front end. as: shown at 01% so that it may readily pass over o!mtrurtioiu .llhis; plate in nerured at ita rear end to a hrael-Irt or luin ifer till \vhieh in .aerured at it"; upper end to a rrarwardly pi'oji-etine lug); t ll; on an at1- taehiu plate LF nhirh h; aerured to the heel; plate 2'? at the rare head at the ne'er roriuzr oi the same. l'he luuuier ti l in otl'set near ita upper en h aa iialirated at Hit so that the halhuzt guard 2-; ivardl r alongside ol tooth flit.

tho adjaeent .ialte lit: grass at th 5 i-iide oi: the railroad trarlt l as grown so rapidly at: to term and eholring or overlying the hallae we may employ the sod cutter shown in .t has. 12 and til, eontasting of a shank Bini nilar to the eh: nlei t a d u e to th rake h in he s me l ma elea r and 'a'ojeet/ l'ormanner. At the end of this shank 8? is a plow .or cutter 88 having its front edge beveled or sharpened, as indicated at 89, and, tapered forwardly to form a point Stlwhich will .readily penetrate the sod. Secured rigidly to the rear end of the plow or cutter is a deflecting or turning plate 31 which has its rear extremity turned outwardly, as shown at 92, wiereby the sod out by the plow will be turned over and pushed aside beyond the ballast or the track.

railroad car and discarded platform may be advantageously utilized as mountings for the same. By the use of our apparatus, the ballast of railroad tracks ma be very readily and rapidly renovated and weeds or other growths which may spring up in the ballast may be very easily and rapidly removed. side of the track, the rake teeth will be disposed in stepped relation but when working between two tracks they will preferably be disposed in the same horizontalplane. If

circumstances require or suggest, the teeth at one side of the apparatus may be secured in inoperative position and the apparatus set for meat only one side. While the teeth cannot be adjusted vertically in the rake heads instantly, when they have been once set for operation upon a particular stretch of track, no other adjustment of the teeth in the head is needed until the apparatus is to be operated upon a stretch of track having a difierent depth or in which the ballast has a differentconformation;

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new is: t

'1. Apparatus for the purpose set forth comprising a rake, a support for the rake mounted upon the side of a car, the'rake being pivotally mounted on said support at a point removed from the side of the car whereby it may be reversed, and means for securing the rake in angular relation to the position relaside of the car while in either tive to the support. I p I Apparatus for the purpose set forth comprising a rake, a support'for the same whereby to mount the rake upon the side of a railroad car, means for bodily adjusting the support verticallyupon the side of the car, means for pivotallysuspending the rake on thesupport at apoint remote from the side of the car whereby the rake may be reversed, and means for securing the rake 1H s set position relative to the support and the car.

Apparatus for the purpose set forth comprising a support, means for mounting said support on the side of a car for vertical sliding movement, a rake hinged to said support, a swinging arm carried by said When working at the support, and a pivotal connectionbetween said swinging arm and the, ralre whereby the rake may be reversed or may be swung pivotally upon the support to extend laterally therefrom or lie substantially parallel with the side of the car. a

l. Apparatus for the purpose set forth comprising a slide, means for mounting the said slide vertically upon a car, means for shifting said slide vertically, means for V I looking the slide at any point of vertical Our apparatus is capable of use upon any I opening in the head of the rake whereby to secure the rake against the side of the car. (3. In an apparatus for the purpose set forth, the combination of a rake head, rake teeth secured to the front side of said'head, and a forwardly pro ecting ballast guard secured to the lower corner of said head and extending past the adjacent teeth.

7. In an apparatus for the purpose set forth, the combination of a rake head, teeth secured to the front side vof said head, an attaching plate secured to the rear side of the head at the lower corner thereof, a

hanger secured to and depending from said plate, and a ballast guard secured to andprojecting forwardly from said hanger past the adjacent teeth.

' 8. In an apparatus for the purpose set forth, the combination of a slide, means for mounting said slide upon a car for vertical.

movement, means for maintaining said slide in any position ofvertical adjustment, series of brackets secured upon the outer side of said slide, vertically alined pivots mounted in said brackets, a supporting arm mounted upon the upper pivot, a rake mounted at its inner end upon the lower pivot, said lower pivot being removable from the brackets, a pivot on the upper end of the rake the center thereof engaged through the outer end of the said supporting arm, and means for engaging the outer end of the rake for maintaining the same in any position of pivotal adjustment.

In testimony whereof we aliix our signatures. 

